The Best Bakery in the Yass Valley

The wonderful Yass Valley Information Centre has a web page entitled “Three Must Try Bakeries in the Yass Valley”. The featured bakeries include The Baker at Sutton (1 Victoria Street, Sutton), Clementine Bakery (69 Comur Street, Yass), and Yass Valley Bakery (63 Comur Street, Yass). Each of the featured bakeries is accompanied by a photo of their wares, leaving readers’ mouths watering, and plans being made for imminent visits.

But did you know that you can make delicious baked goods in your own home – without too much stress and effort?

One of the cultural changes wrought by the COVID-19 crisis was an uptake in home cooking and baking. However, by the second half of 2020 a surge in demand and issues with supply from Asia meant there was difficulty obtaining kitchen electrical goods such as bread makers and mix masters. Thankfully the issue with supply seems to have abated and we can now obtain equipment to make our baking lives much easier.

One of the Australian baking companies that offers a range of bread mixes is Laucke. Laucke Flour Mills are the last of Australia’s industry founding family owned and operated independent millers, and the origins of this business can be traced to the arrival of Friedrich Laucke in South Australia in 1895. Lauke offer a range of bread mixes for the average home baker, including:

• Barossa Sourdough Rye
• Ciabatta
• Bio-Fort Golden Wholemeal
• German Grain
• Crusty White
• Golden Brioche
• Gluten free options.

Each box of bread mix contains individual packets (each is enough for one loaf), along with a separate sachet of yeast. All one needs to do is follow the directions on the box and make the bread either by hand, with a mix master, or a bread maker. It’s a simple process and the results are outstanding.

And now for something sweeter. The following is a traditional Irish cake recipe that uses a product only found in the Yass Valley – Binalong Bushranger Blend Tea.

Irish Barm Brack

Ingredients: 450gms dried mixed fruit
200gm soft brown sugar
225gms self-raising flour
300ml cold Binalong Bushranger Blend Tea
1 free range egg, beaten
1 tsp mixed spice

Method:

1. Mix the dried fruit and brown sugar together
2. Pour in the cold tea and let the mixture steep overnight
3. Next morning, pre-heat the oven to 180oC or 160oC fan forced
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the fruit, sugar, and tea, and stir well
5. Pour the mixture into one large loaf tin or two smaller loaf tins, which have been lined with baking paper
6. Cook for approximately 45 minutes to one hour
7. Cool on a wire rack before turning out of the tin
8. The cake keeps well in an airtight tin for several days, and is traditionally served sliced and buttered

• Topics:

• Food
• Health & Wellbeing